The articles must be no more than ten (10) years old.The article must have more than five (5) pages of actual
content (without graphs, charts, footnotes, citations, etc.).Books, dissertations, and theses will not count toward
the scholarly source minimum requirements.
Carefully choose sources that provide a variety of perspectives on your selected topic. In addition to the
minimum research requirements, you should use high quality sources for essential current events information
relevant to your topic. These include academic sources that are not peer-reviewed (position papers), newspaper
articles, magazine articles, and other quality or reputable sources.
An introduction and brief overview of the policy topic.What are the major issues facing each level of
government?What are the reasons for initiating changes to the policy?What are the options to be considered
(discuss several)?What are the pros and cons of each potential reform (costs v. benefits)?Which is the best
option moving forward (pick one)?A summary and conclusion
Do not use first person in the proposal or final policy paper!
The paper body must be a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 full pages in body length, double-spaced. No
more and no less is necessary for this activity. Keep direct quotes to a minimum; do not use block quotations.
All key arguments, facts, assertions, and claims must be supported with research. The references approved in the
policy proposal must be used in the policy paper: you may add additional sources (and should if you seek an A
on the assignment), but you must seek approval from the instructor at least 72 hours before the policy paper due
date if you intend to change any of the scholarly sources approved in the proposal.
There will be no opportunity to revise and resubmit this assignment. Failure to meet the minimum research and
writing requirements will result in a zero for the entire assignment (no partial credit will be awarded as this is a
formal institutional assessment)
